Review: Lakland Bob Glaub Signature Series Bass

Just who the heck is Bob Glaub? Why, he's a big-time bassist who's played with Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, Rod Stewart, Don Henley, John Fogerty, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, to name a few. Bob's also been chosen by Lakland Basses to help develop the company's latest signature instrument: the Bob Glaub Signature Model. The design goal? Manufacture a bass that "sounds and feels like a broken-in pre-CBS Fender."

"Lakland hasn't reinvented the wheel with the Bob Glaub Signature, but the wheel rolls better than ever."

Lakland succeeded. Based on Glaub's vintage 1964 Fender Precision, the BG bass replicates an old, lightweight classic. But there are numerous refinements adorning that flawless Lake Placid Blue body that make it worth its 3k price tag. For example, check out the custom Lakland dual-design bridge, which allows you to string the bass through the body or through the bridge. Many players feel running the strings through the body couples the string vibration to the bass better, and we noticed a deep resonance from the BG when plucking the through-body strings.

There's more: Lakland beefs up the one-piece neck with graphite reinforcement bars underneath the fingerboard. Most older basses use a flatsawn slab for the neck, but the Lakland Glaub features a quartersawn neck for extra strength. (Our test bass showed beautiful quartering along the entire neck.) Also setting the Glaub apart is pristine fretwork, bird's-eye-maple position markers (a wonderful touch), and a perfectly profiled bone nut.

Bob Glaub and Lakland spent considerable time finding the right pickup. After many A/B tests, the team chose a Lindy Fralin split-coil humbucker that they connect to 250k volume and tone controls. Fralin rewinds a ton of vintage pickups, so it's no surprise his single-coils and humbuckers have a wonderful Old School sound.

Speaking of tone, the BG sounds like a good P-Bass should: strong low-mids, a slight upper-midrange bite, and a taut top. The bass sounded way fat through an Ampeg SVT rig. A hi-fi setup brought out the instrument's woodiness with even more low-mid definition. Like all time-tested P-Basses, the Glaub sits well in a variety of situations, both live and in the studio.

Still need more? The BG bass is also available with a Fralin PJ configuration and a Jazz-taper neck. The added single-coil (which is actually a linear humbucker) gives the tone more focus, while soloing the Fralin produces the usual bridge-pickup throatiness. The Glaub PJ bass is a nice blend of Precision and Jazz worlds, both sound- and playability-wise.

Yes, the basses are expensive. But so are vintage Fenders, most of which need fretwork, a refinish, and an electronics tweak. Lakland hasn't reinvented the wheel with the Bob Glaub Signature, but the wheel rolls better than ever.

For more information about the Lakland Bob Glaub Signature Bass, click here.